TORONTO — Toronto’s Yeshiva Darchei Torah has come a long way since it opened 10 years ago, but the school’s core philosophy has remained the same, rosh yeshiva Rabbi Eliezer Breitowitz says.
Rosh yeshiva Rabbi Eliezer Breitowitz was among those honoured at Yeshiva Darchei Torah’s recent 10th anniversary gala. Seen at the event are, from left, Moishe Posner, Michael Harris and Rabbi Breitowitz.
The school was started by a group of parents who wanted an equal balance between religious and secular instruction and felt that some of the other schools in the community had become too polarized, Rabbi Breitowitz said in an interview. They recognized that many of their children would enter secular professions.
“The middle of the road isn’t always the most popular place,” Rabbi Breitowitz said, but the school eventually gained the community’s support and grew accordingly.
Darchei Torah started with two grades and about 30 boys. Today, it has grades 9 to 12 and more than twice as many students. In addition, it opened in a rented facility but was eventually able to buy its own campus.
Now, Rabbi Breitowitz said, “when the vast majority of students here enter Grade 9, this is their first choice. Oftentimes it’s their only choice.”
The milestone anniversary was celebrated with a dinner at Beth Avraham Yosef of Toronto on May 15, where they honoured people who were instrumental in creating and building the school.
Honorees included Rabbi Breitowitz, who has been the head of the school from the beginning, and two founders of the yeshiva, Sheldon Salcman and Israel Weinstock, who were instrumental in getting the first teachers and the first location.
Rabbi Breitowitz said the 10th anniversary dinner was a success in more ways than just as a fundraiser.
“It was an opportunity for people who have no direct connection to the school to learn about it.”
A guest speaker at the event was Darchei Torah graduate Yehuda Azoulay, who has written about Sephardi history in community magazines and in his book called A Legacy of Leaders.
Rabbi Breitowitz said many of the graduates have gone on to a mixture of Jewish and secular careers. After 10 years, parents are seeing that the students are prepared for that balance, which has been the focus from the beginning.
“Parents are hesitant to entrust their children to a school they don’t know will last,” he said.
Others honoured at the celebration included parents and grandparents of students, who have helped make the school a success, Rabbi Breitowitz said. This kind of family support will help the students remain connected to the school and fuel its growth in the future, he added.
“It might be somewhere they consider sending their children someday.”
Darchei Torah offers a well-rounded education that the rabbi feels is necessary.
“We offer both an authentic yeshiva experience and an authentic high school experience,” he said.
As a result, most graduates spend some time studying in Israel, and then go on to university in Canada.
Rabbi Breitowitz also looks forward to seeing where their graduates end up in years to come.
In the next 10 years, Rabbi Breitowitz hopes to see the school continue to have the balance it has now.
“What we say now, we would have said 10 years ago,” Rabbi Breitowitz said. “We hope to be saying the same thing in the next 10 years.”
